Pierce Hening

Majors: Physics, Music Production

Research Mentor: Dr. John Deisz

Pierce participated in full-time research during the summer of 2015 through a Swenson Summer Research Fellowship awarded by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Studies.

What was your summer research project? Did you learn anything exciting?

My research was on the superconductivity of the material strontium ruthenate, specifically creating quantum simulations in order observe the behavior and characteristics of the material. Something exciting I learned in the process was how this material behave unconventionally compared to other known superconductors in that it exhibits half-flux states.

How did you get involved in doing research? What sparked your interest?

I was involved through my professor who also performed research on this in he graduate years. I applied for a research fellowship and for some reason I was chosen. I just wanted experience and had no idea this was what I was doing until I started working but found it extremely interesting.

How has doing physics research as an undergraduate enhanced your experience? Has it influenced your future goals?

It has definitely given me an advantage to those who have not done research like this. I wrote about 3,000 lines of code where in other situations at other schools the code is kind of handed to them where as i developed it from the ground up. Most physics student don’t perform this type of work until the graduate years and having it during my undergraduate education has prepared me for my future education and future work environments. It hasn’t inspired any future goals per say, but given me more confidence in attempting to reach my goals.

If you choose to pursue physics at the graduate level, do you feel well prepared for it? Why?

Yes, I feel more prepared because I know I can keep up with any type of work that comes my way. It has established a mind set for me that is fun. I like doing this kind of stuff, even though it is not directly related to my future interests, I love it. That is why I am a physics major. It is hard for me to even call it work because I have so much fun doing it.

Why did you choose to double major? How does your double major express who you are?

I love both physics and music production passionately, and I wanted a challenge that reflects my capabilities. My double major expresses my ideas about developing intelligence along with talent and a bit of charisma. I love to do what is unexpected, maybe even irregular, and surprise people with capabilities they didn’t know I had.

What is your career goal? How will your double major impact your career goal?

I realize my majors can lead to completely different careers. Fortunately I can further my education in both subjects as a graduate student. I do want to be a part of something that incorporates both the aesthetic and technology of music production with the theoretical and practical uses of physics.

What are you most passionate about in school? In life?

I am passionate about increasing my intelligence along with the wisdom to use it.  Also, my family, my friends, my relationship with a wonderful young woman, and with surfing coming in there somewhere.

Anything else you’d like to say about double majoring to prospective Cal Lutheran students?

If you plan on double majoring, especially in opposite disciplines, have your four-year schedule organized and ready by the end of your first semester. I’d be much better off if I’d taken a few classes earlier.

Austin Linkous

Major: Music Production

Minor: Business

How would you describe your studies so far? 

My studies so far in Music Production have been amazing. The program has recently started offering a class with Benny Faccone, a 15 time Grammy award winning engineer, so he is hands down my favorite teacher and class. He has a ton of experience and knowledge and makes the work that we do real world applicable which is a must have in the music production. Also, the music production department has been adding new classes every year and growing the skill sets that can be learned so I’ve gotten a much broader experience than I originally anticipated.

Would you recommend the major to prospective students deciding on an area of study?

I would recommend Music Production to anyone who has a passion working for music and want to be in the music industry as something other than just a musician. It really is much broader than just recording music and the skill sets are applicable in a ton of different industries like film, gaming, and television.

What opportunities have you received as a student to help you set your goals after graduation? 

Right now there aren’t a ton of opportunities being presented for students who graduate in the music production department. There are students that have gotten internships working in studios because of connections from teachers and faculty. There haven’t been a ton of graduated music production majors yet so there just aren’t as many opportunities yet. But with some of the new teachers that we have gotten in the past 2 years, they have really helped me identify what it is that I want to do and been able to push me in that direction so that when I graduate I have a plan.

What did you take away from MUS 482 and organizing Cal LuPalooza? 

As for Cal LuPalooza, this year the Mus 482 class is still the ones planning the event, but since I’m the music production department assistant, as well as the person who was in charge last year, I’m taking a leadership role again this year to help the event be even bigger than last year. It also helps as a liaison between the class and the music production department to make sure that everything goes smooth because there definitely were a lot of challenges last year. The experience overall was amazing, I learned a ton about how to plan events, marketing, organizing musicians and equipment and set-up, I got to take a leadership role and really grow into it and it was an experience that definitely made me grow. Sure there were a ton of challenges, but at the end of the day when the show happens, it was all worth it.